This document summarizes a study on gender differences in poker gambling behaviors among undergraduate students. The study found that gender exerts an effect on poker behaviors that is mediated by the locations where students gamble on poker. Specifically, males were more likely than females to gamble on poker in public locations and on the internet, and gambling in these locations was associated with higher problem gambling severity, spending on poker, and poker debt. Therefore, gender differences in poker behaviors can be explained by the locations where males and females typically gamble on poker. The study concludes that gambling behaviors need to be understood in the contexts of specific settings rather than just individual factors.

1. GENDER, GAMBLING SETTINGS, AND GAMBLING
BEHAVIORS AMONG UNDERGRADUTE POKER
PLAYERS
Eva Monson, PhD
Research Chair on Gambling
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Concordia University
_________________________
International Gambling Conference 2016
Auckland, New Zealand
February 12th, 2016

2. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
 Gambling problems are up to three times higher than
in the general adult population
 3.7% MR & PG in a Canadian-wide campus
survey1 compared to 2.0% among adults2
 Gambling as a leisure or glamourous activity
1. Kairouz, 2005
2. Cox et al., 2005

3. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
 Students gamble in a variety of settings1
 Settings have influence on gambling outcomes
across different gambling occasions1
 e.g., time and money spent
 It may be by looking for where the action is2, and by
catching the specificities of gambling places3 that one
can further understand gambling behaviors.
1. Kairouz, Paradis, & Monson, 2015
2. Goffman, 1961
3. Lyons, 2002

4. GENDER
 Prevalence and frequency of gambling, and related
problems are higher among male college students 1
 Similar to general population studies2
 Research has focused on individual factors
contributing to gender differences in gambling
 but social behaviors are influenced by context
1. Ellenbogen, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta, & Paskus, 2008; Martin et al., 2010 Adams, Sullivan, Horton, Menna, & Guilmette, 2007
2. Kairouz, Paradis, Nadeau, Hamel, & Robillard 2015

5. POKER
 Theoretically, poker is gender neutral
 In practice, historically dominated by men
 In recent years, an increasing number of women online
 Perhaps due to anonymity of internet
 WSOP Main Event: 4% women1; online: 26.2%2
 Settings may be an important component of the gender
differences observed in poker behaviours
1. WSOP, 2015
2. Parke et al., 2007

6. It is through the settings
in which college male and female gamblers play
poker that gender is related to poker behaviors.
Gender
Poker
settings
Poker
behaviors
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

7. THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT GAMBLING HABIT
SURVEY/ ENHJEU PROJECT 2008
 Representative sample of 2,139 full-time
undergraduate students
 Those who reported having bet money on poker
during the last 12 months (n = 368) were retained
 242 men, 126 women
 3 Montreal universities and 2 affiliated schools
 Response rate: 41%

8. Dependent variable
 Overall PGSI score
 Past year poker spending
 Past year gambling debt
Mediators - Location
 Internet
 Public location
 Private residence
Independent variables
 Gender: male as
reference category
Control variables
 Year of study
 Disposable income
 University
MEASURES

9.  Gender
 PGSI Index
 0 to 27
 Money spent on poker - last 12 months
 0 to 1,000$
 Accumulated poker debt - last 12 months
 0 to 8,000$
 Prevalence of gambling on poker by location
 Public location, private residence, online
MEASURES

10. Gender
Private
residence
Public
locations
Internet
Score PGSI
Poker Spending
Poker Debts
c’
a1
a2
a3
b1
b2
b3
Graphic representation of a multiple mediator model. The total effect (c) is composed of the direct effect
(c’) and the indirect effects (a1-3b1-3).
ANALYSIS

11. RESULTS
Summary of mediation results controlling for year of
study and disposable money (5000 bootstrap samples)
Total
effect
(c)
Effect of
IV on M
(a)
Effect of
M on DV
(b)
Total
Indirect
effect
Direct
effect
(c’)
Specific
Indirect
effects
(ab)
B coeff. B coeff. B coeff. Point
est.
B coeff. Point
est.
PGSI Private
Public + + +
Internet + + +
+ + +
Poker
Spending
Private
Public + + +
Internet + + +
+ +

12. RESULTS
 Gender exerts an effect on poker behaviors.
 This effect is mediated through the
prevalence of gambling on poker that occurs
in different locations.
It is not gender in itself that structures poker behaviors
but rather
the locations where students gamble on poker,
given their gender.

13. CONCLUSION
 Gambling needs to be understood from a
perspective focusing as much on contexts as
individuals
 Highlights the need to tailor prevention not
only to specific groups such as college
students but also to account for the risk
embedded in specific settings.

14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 ENHJEU participants
 Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FRQ-SC)
 Fonds de la recherche en santé
 Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal -
Institut universitaire
 Sylvia Kairouz, Philippe Laperle, and Nicole Arsenault

15. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
MERCI POUR VOTRE ATTENTION